Fates Roundup, January 7, 2014

(Nancy Kerrigan, who joins NBC's Olympics coverage, is pictured left on Today.)

Here is a compilation of the latest executive moves in the industry.

Fox announced the appointment of a trio of executives to its unscripted team on Jan. 7.Lisa Levenson has been tapped as senior VP of alternative entertainment; Alex Piper has been named VP of alternative entertainment; and Amy Cohen, who has been with Fox unscripted since 2005, has been upped to executive director of the unit. Simon Andreae, who was appointed head of the reality division two months ago, made the announcement. Andreae, the former Discovery exec, replaced Mike Darnell, who left the company in May 2013 after 18 years. Darnell is now with Warner Bros. TV. Levenson and Piper will be charged with managing the unit’s day-to-day current unscripted programming as well as help develop new unscripted series for Fox. The duo will report to Andreae.

Olympic figure skater Nancy Kerrigan will join NBC Olympics coverage of the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, NBC announced on Jan. 7. Kerrigan, who won a silver medal at the 1994 Lillehammer Games and a bronze medal at the 1992 Albertville Games. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the “whack heard round the world,” where a man burst onto the rink during a practice session at the 1994 U.S. World Figure Skating Championships and hit Kerrigan in the knee with a police baton. The man was later connected to fellow figure skater Tonya Harding’s ex-husband Jeff Gillooly and Harding’s bodyguard Shawn Eckhardt.

Lindsey Vonn announced on Jan. 7 that she will be withdrawing from the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi. The skier, who suffered a devastating knee injury early last year, won two medals during the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. The championship athlete also earned top honors in downhill skiing and the super-G in the 2009 world championshps.

Willinger Talent Agency announced a number of client moves on Jan. 7. The appointments include: Jean Casarez, who is heading to CNN as a New York-based correspondent; Sebastian Walker, who joins Al Jazeera America’s documentary series Fault Lines; Tanja Babich, who has been tapped as a reporter and fill-in anchor for WLS Chicago; Kelcey Carlson, who will soon start at Fox O&O, KMSP Minneapolis as weeknight anchor; Angela Buchman, who is serving as chief meteorologist at WTHR Indianapolis; Ken Molestina, who has been appointed weekend anchor at Dallas/Fort Worth’s KTVT; and Frank Wiley, who has moved to WGCL Atlanta as weekday morning anchor.

Sasheer Zamata will join Saturday Night Live as a featured player, it was announced on Jan. 6. Zamata, who will first appear on the show Jan. 18, comes on board a few months after the late-night series received criticism for its lack of diversity. She joins six other new SNL castmembers who started in September: Beck Bennett, Noel Wells, Brooks Wheelen, Mike O'Brien, John Milhiser and Kyle Mooney. SNL will also lose head writer and “Weekend Update” anchor Seth Meyers in February. Meyers will take over the hosting duties on Late Night beginning Feb. 24.

Christine Romans has been tapped as co-anchor of CNN’s Early Start. Romans will continue to serve as the news net’s chief business correspondent in addition to her Early Start duties. CNN also announced that Victor Blackwell and Christi Paul will co-anchor New Day Weekend, the channel’s weekend morning show. Both Blackwell and Paul will continue their previous duties with Blackwell reporting from Atlanta and Paul anchoring weekday programming for HLN.

Alexis Danziger has been named an attorney/agent at Willinger Talent Agency. Danziger has worked in the entertainment industry for more than a decade and was a founding partner of the live event production company Gemini Sisters Entertainment.

Lisa Cornwell will anchor the Golf Channel’s Golf Central, the network announced on Jan. 6. Cornwell has reported for NBC, CBS and ABC affiliate stations in Mississippi, Tennessee and Ohio as well as for the Big Ten Network.

Gannett announced on Jan. 6 that it has expanded its executive team after the company’s purchase of the Belo group.Lynn Beall will work as an executive VP and continue in her role as president and general manager of KSDK St. Louis. Peter Diaz will also serve as an executive VP. Diaz previously was president of Belo’s media operations. Belo employees Angela Betasso and Michael Valentine will also assume duties under Gannett. Betasso was named VP of sales while Valentine was appointed VP of news. Other appointments include Dan Lyons as VP of sales strategy, Rob Mennie as senior VP of news and content, Mark Cornetta as senior VP and Brooke Spectorsky as senior VP of syndicated programming.